FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS: EFFORTS ON TO GIVE YOUTH A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT: MINISTER

RAWALPINDI: The government is committed to providing healthy
environment to youth and struggle against narcotics is part of such
efforts, Narcotics Control Minister Nazar Gondal said on Thursday.

He was speaking during a function at Jeddah Town Enclave where
Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) set on fire 18,354kg narcotics seized by
Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore regional directorates.

A large number of senior military and civil officials, social
workers, representatives of NGOs and heads of local educational
institutions turned up.

The ANF distributed printed material among the visitors and
displayed banners with anti-drugs slogans to highlight adverse
effects of drugs on human health and mind.

Narcotics Control Minister Nazar Gondal regretted that drugs
traffickers used Pakistan as transit country. He said that drug
traffickers were using most difficult routes besides adopting
unconventional smuggling methods.

He condemned drug traffickers as ruthless human beings, who destroy
the future of humankind. He said that drug traffickers were mostly
equipped with latest weapons and communication system.

The minister appreciated the ANF efforts for drugs control.

ANF Director General Major General Khalid Amir Jafri said that
Pakistan was facing multiple problems, which made the task of ANF
more difficult. He said that the country was located in the
neighbourhood of Afghanistan, which was fulfilling global drug needs
by producing almost 93 percent narcotics of the world. He said that
the ANF had been striving very hard to create deterrence amongst the
drug traffickers.

Force Commander of ANF Regional Directorate Brig Asif Alvi said that
between 2001 and May 31, 2008, the regional directorate seized
1507.96kg heroin, 864.61kg opium, 28908.76kg hashish, 4,557 liquor
bottles, 793 ecstasy tablets and 4,011kg poppy straws.

He said that in the same period, the directorate registered 1,770
drug seizure cases and got 1,203 criminals convicted. He said that
388 drug cases were under trial.

He said that Pakistan was actively collaboration with the UNODC, the
UK, the US, China, Germany and Australia to prevent smuggling of
drugs into and out of Pakistan.

He said that the ANF had been playing a leading role in mass
awareness and community action programmers to educate people against
drug abuse. He said that the ANF had also established a 45-bedded
Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre (MATRC) for the
detoxification of drug addicts. He said that the Force was also
running a drop-in centre for injecting drug users for the
registration of addicts to motivate them for treatment.